Taiwan must secure a strategic position in the “new space age” and grasp the commercial opportunities heralded by low Earth orbit satellites, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
The “new space age” refers to the increasing commercialization of space, with the private sector playing a more important role than national governments.
Tsai yesterday visited the headquarters of the National Space Organization (NSPO) at the Hsinchu Science Park along with Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅).
Photo courtesy of the Hsinchu City Government
It is estimated that thousands of low Earth orbit satellites would be launched in the next decade, generating massive demand for satellite and ground equipment manufacturing, Tsai said.
The next decade is very crucial as many nations are also planning to return to the moon and Taiwan must secure a more strategically significant position in the “new space age,” she said.
Building on Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and precision manufacturing, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Development Fund are cooperating with local firms to try to grab a share of the global supply chain, she added.
Tsai expressed the hope that NSPO Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信), nicknamed “Uncle Rocket,” would be able to “rocket” local space technology into space.
After Wu assumed his position on Aug. 2 he has been restructuring the NSPO to highlight the development of satellite payloads, components and avionics.
Asked about his rationale, Wu said that the NSPO in earlier years had to purchase many components from foreign suppliers when developing a satellite.
The lack of autonomous development of certain components caused uncertainty about their import and delayed satellite development, he said.
Following the restructuring, the NSPO would be able to devote more resources to developing satellite payloads and components, Wu said.
The flight control division and electrical engineering division have been merged into a new satellite avionics division, he said.
Speaking about the NSPO’s plans, Wu said weather satellite Triton (獵風者) is scheduled to be launched next year and it also plans to develop a second low Earth orbit communications satellite for the Beyond 5G project, set to be launched in 2025 or 2026.
The Beyond 5G project only consisted of one satellite when it was initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology in January with a budget of NT$4 billion (US$144.3 million).
The specifications of the two B5G communications satellites would be comparable to those of the Starlink satellites developed by SpaceX, Wu said.
Asked whether there would be more funding to produce satellites, Executive Yuan Board of Science and Technology Executive Secretary Andrew Yeh (葉哲良) said that more deliberation is needed and that the results would be known by the end of this year.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS